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And away from the bullion market right now, you'll find plenty to think on.

Stock Market up almost 40% since the Election, with 7 Trillion Dollars of U.S. value built throughout the economy. Lowest unemployment rate in many decades, with Black & Hispanic unemployment lowest in History, and Female unemployment lowest in 21 years. Highest confidence ever!

And out of that income, the amount of money people are saving for the future has collapsed both in the US, sinking
back to 2005's record lows...just before the housing bust turned into the global banking crisis.

The real trouble, however, is building in those corporate debt markets.

Because while US businesses have raised new record levels of debt, they have also enjoyed record-high corporate earnings.

Those earnings are now
trying to plateau if not retreat. And after a near 10-year bull market in stocks – and the third longest recession-free economic run in US history – 2018's record-high equities look priced for perfection with very little room for manoeuvre.

The pin for this bubble?

Rising interest rates are the usual suspects. Most of the world is trying to keep a lid on the cost of borrowing, but the US Fed looks set to keep raising the cost of borrowing Dollars.

The immediate pain is already hitting emerging-economy nations.

Over-borrowed and over-reliant on foreign funds, they are now stuck trying to boost growth with cheap money at home, while trying to defend their fast-falling currencies on the foreign exchange market.

...forcing them to try and keep boosting domestic demand with cheap money while the No.1 source of all liquidity slowly tightens the tap.

So when will the Fed stop?

Raising interest rates is being sold as a sign that economic growth can now look after itself, because consumers and business need less support from the central bank. Inflation is also rising, or so all the indicators are flashing.

But the world is priced to rely on near-zero rates. So removing that support is unlikely to end well for borrowers, never mind their lenders.

...and it starts slashing interest rates again to try and stem the recession.

Buying gold bullion or other precious metals isn't guaranteed to get you through that downturn when it comes. Not even the immutable metal is sure to do well in the economic and financial chaos to which the US Fed is now booking our tickets.

But physical bullion is very unlikely to stay boring.

Least of all when other investors realise just how much they could lose when this debt bubble bursts, and borrowers stop repaying their loans.

Adrian Ash is director of research at BullionVault, the physical gold and silver market for private investors online. Formerly head of editorial at London's top publisher of private-investment advice, he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and is now a regular contributor to many leading analysis sites including Forbes and a regular guest on BBC national and international radio and television news. Adrian's views on the gold market have been sought by the Financial Times and Economist magazine in London; CNBC, Bloomberg and TheStreet.com in New York; Germany's Der Stern; Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore, and many other respected finance publications.

Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News, RSS links are shown there.